Door sag on the new Delorean

[n29we]

Well the new car arrived last night from FL. It's been sleeping in a garage since the owner passed away in 2001. Anyway I had new lift struts ready to install and the install went smoothly but the drivers door doesn't go all the way to the top. I'm guessing the torsion bar is weak or broken? Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks Jim O

[ccurzio]

Cold weather never helps these matters. Everyone's doors tend to droop a bit during the winter months.

Wait until warmer weather before deciding if the torsion bar needs adjusting. If you try adjusting it now, you'll find your door bangs open during the warmer months.

[Jonathan]

+1 on what Chris said. There seems to be a noticeable difference above or below 70 degrees F.

...and the install went smoothly but the drivers door doesn't go all the way to the top ON IT'S OWN (?)

Assuming you meant the door doesn't go all the way to the top unassisted, right? As opposed to it won't go up all the way even if you use your hand, i.e. something is blocking it.

[louielouie2000]

You'd know if the torsion bar was "broken"- you wouldn't be able to open the door at all. Like the others said, wait until warmer weather & see what happens. More than likely the door isn't opening all the way on it's own because of the cold temperatures affecting your gas struts. If the door still sags when it's warmer, then look into getting the torsion bar adjusted. I'd suggest going to a local owners club gathering (DeLorean Mid Atlantic for you) or taking the car to PJ Grady since he's nearby.

[DeLorean]

Ditto on the bar not being broken, if it's broken you won't be lifting that door up without both hands from the exterior of the car, as it weighs about 100 lbs. the gas struts do almost nothing if the bar is busted.

Also, normal when cold is- door opens about 3/4 of the way, and you have to help it the rest of the way, but it should then stay. in 80 degree temps? the door will operate normally, and should open by itself fully, without bouncing.

[jmettee]

Good test on the torsion bar setting (no matter what the temperature is): without the gas spring installed, the door should hang almost closed, but with about a 6" gap at the bottom. If it sits all the way closed, it's either too weak or your roof is starting to delaminate from the body (becoming more of a problem as the bond fails with age).

[NightFlyer]

Cold weather. Wait for warmer ambient temps before assuming there's a torsion bar issue.

That said, I actual prefer struts that require a slight manual assist to get the doors into the fully open position, as strong struts will cause stress/wear on the aforementioned roof box and ball stud mountings. Of course, the ultimate choice is yours, but if going with a strut that ultimately causes the doors to bounce upon reaching the fully opened position, you might want to consider reinforcing the roof box and the ball stud mounting (there's a few products available on the market to reinforce the ball stud mounting). I'm still running the stock/OEM struts that came on my car from Dunmurry, and although I do need to manually assist them to the fully open position (less than an inch of travel), the struts hold them fully open just fine once in that position during the entire driving season. And my roof box and ball stud mountings look as new without any issues (which is preferred, because I'd really rather not mess with them if I don't have to). In the current ambient temps, my struts will only hold the doors between the 1/2 and 3/4 of the way open. Even after manually assisting to full open, they'll droop back down in the current ambient temps. But I also don't drive my car in the winter, so who cares. Food for thought for a new guy...

[n29we]

Cold weather. Wait for warmer ambient temps before assuming there's a torsion bar issue.

That said, I actual prefer struts that require a slight manual assist to get the doors into the fully open position, as strong struts will cause stress/wear on the aforementioned roof box and ball stud mountings. Of course, the ultimate choice is yours, but if going with a strut that ultimately causes the doors to bounce upon reaching the fully opened position, you might want to consider reinforcing the roof box and the ball stud mounting (there's a few products available on the market to reinforce the ball stud mounting). I'm still running the stock/OEM struts that came on my car from Dunmurry, and although I do need to manually assist them to the fully open position (less than an inch of travel), the struts hold them fully open just fine once in that position during the entire driving season. And my roof box and ball stud mountings look as new without any issues (which is preferred, because I'd really rather not mess with them if I don't have to). In the current ambient temps, my struts will only hold the doors between the 1/2 and 3/4 of the way open. Even after manually assisting to full open, they'll droop back down in the current ambient temps. But I also don't drive my car in the winter, so who cares. Food for thought for a new guy...

Thanks for the input!! When I got the car the drivers door strut would not even keep it up a little. The passenger door strut would keep it up a little but neither would hold them at the top or near even if helping them. The passenger side door with new strut will go nice and smoothly to the top and hold. The Drivers door with new strut will go up about 3/4 and stop. I can help it up but it will come back down to the 3/4 position. These struts were bought new from DMC TX. The workshop I have the car in is only kept about 55 degrees. BTW The torsion bar looks fine on drivers side. As quite a few have said I'll wait for temps to rise and see what happens thanks

[refugeefromcalif]

The passenger side door with new strut will go nice and smoothly to the top and hold. The Drivers door with new strut will go up about 3/4 and stop. I can help it up but it will come back down to the 3/4 position.

Just for Grins and Giggles, swap the 2 struts and see if the both doors still work the same.
I've bought New struts that didn't work as well as the old one(s).

George

[NightFlyer]

Thanks for the input!! When I got the car the drivers door strut would not even keep it up a little. The passenger door strut would keep it up a little but neither would hold them at the top or near even if helping them. The passenger side door with new strut will go nice and smoothly to the top and hold. The Drivers door with new strut will go up about 3/4 and stop. I can help it up but it will come back down to the 3/4 position. These struts were bought new from DMC TX. The workshop I have the car in is only kept about 55 degrees. BTW The torsion bar looks fine on drivers side. As quite a few have said I'll wait for temps to rise and see what happens thanks

Hmmm... at 55 degrees with new struts, they should be able to at least hold the door in the full open position. You'd also expect the new struts to mirror the performance of each other. And unless some kind of modification has been done, the doors roughly weigh the same, so there's no reason that they shouldn't perform as near equals unless there's a strut or torsion bar issue. As refugeefromcalif suggested, I'd try swapping the struts and see if you get the same results. That way you'll know if it's a defective new strut, or if it's the torsion bar needing to be wound up a spline or two on the driver's side. As the driver's side door sees more use over the life of the car than the passenger side door, it's not uncommon for the driver's side torsion bar to wear (lose elasticity - stored kinetic energy) a little quicker than the passenger side bar.

Also check the ball stud mounting (making sure that it's solid and straight) and inspect the roof box for separation issues, as either of those issues could also affect the performance of the doors.

Just make sure that you rule everything else out first before considering a torsion bar adjustment, as that is always the last fix that should be considered.

Best of luck